Tentation/Iron Slaught – 665 Les Hordes Metalliques – Split (Review)

This is a split release between Tentation and Iron Slaught, who are both heavy metal bands from France.

Tentation start us off. I’m familiar with them from their enjoyable 2015 self-titled release, where they introduced the world to their 80s-influenced classic heavy metal style.

On this split the band offer up 5 tracks lasting 22 minutes in total, and everything about Tentation’s music screams OLD-SCHOOL HEAVY METAL at the top of its voice. It’s well-written, well-performed, and very satisfying. Catchy and memorable, these songs have plenty of hooks, licks, riffs, and galloping guitars to please any heavy metal fan, (although I can also imagine some being put off by how raw and unpolished this is).

I find this kind of thing effortless to enjoy. The riffs and vocals seem to just flow like molten metal, and the aforementioned raw, unpolished production merely adds to the charm of the songs rather than detracts from them, at least for me. There are some scorching solos that are really good fun too.

Nice work Tentation.

I’m not familiar with Iron Slaught’s work before this release, but I have to say that their 18 minutes of this split is just as enjoyable as Tentation’s, if not actually more so in some ways.

Playing in the same kind of arena as Tentation, but with a bit more of a larger, fuller production, Iron Slaught’s songs are slightly less rough than those of their split-mates and also a bit more melodic. Althogh still mostly old-school, there are some more modern elements of heavy metal that have worked their way into the songs here and there, such as the blast beats at the start of Bigorra, for example.

Whereas the singer of Tentation has a piercing clean singing voice all of the time, the vocals on Iron Slaught’s songs are more varied and range from a gruff, shouted delivery and even the odd harsh scream, to more traditional clean singing. Regardless, it’s quite infectious and works very well.

This split reminds us how enjoyable true, old-fashioned heavy metal can be in the right hands. No messing around, no pointless flashiness or nonsense, just pure classic heavy metal played the right way.